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well, since this is in the turtle, amphibian and reptile section I would suggest a couple small salamanders maybe. One problem, they aren't all that entertaining, even though I really like them. They spend most of the time hiding under a rock, or piece of wood, they're pretty easy to find in the wild though, just go out in the woods in most temperate places and turn over some rocks or logs. Easy to care for too, keep some moisture in the tank but not any actual water areas, throw in some small crickets once a week and thats it. Periodically the wood shavings in the tank will need to be changed to prevent mold.

I used to keep them in a tank with about an inch of large gravel, covered by a small layer of wood shavings and chips. just keep a bit of water under the wood shavings, and give em some hiding spots. If they're native, no heater needed, and obviously no filter. Careful also with reptile lamps or any lighting thats non flourescent, they can dry out from the heat really fast! A small and shallow water dish is nice too.

If there aren't native salamanders anywhere near you, well this probably does you no good. never really seen salamanders at pet stores except for a few exotic varieties.

EDIT: I was gonna offer to send you a few, I find them in my backyard all the time and by the dozens, but I don't know about the legalities of sending them to Canada.

No matter how much I learn or know I'm still gonna be a NOOB, but that doesn't mean I'm an idiot!

hey, thanks for the ideas. there can be a heater, and i could fashion a small sponge filter if need be. Lobsternoob, you are right, i was thinking something non-fishy, but my mind is open. a salamander does sound pretty cool, and easy enough, there's a petstore selling fire belly newts nearby, would they be ok? it's got a cover on it, i know they climb.

A single Dario dario might be good, they're a bit difficult to get to eat anything other than live or frozen foods though. I'd go with a scarlet badis and some neocaridina shrimps (RCS, yellow, blue pearl, snowball etc) because when those breed they'll provide a bit of live food that the badis can hunt on his own.

Other than that I can't really think of anything non-aquatic. All the newts and amphibians I know of get either too active for a 2.5 or too big